My Queen, My Rules - 56
Sweet
Ji Mingshu had gotten red wine all over her clothes, so when Cen Sen stopped to buy pork ribs, she stayed in the car instead of getting out with him.
When he returned, the Bentley sped all the way back to Mingshui Manor.
By early evening, the snow had stopped. The sky hung in a muted blue-gray, poised between day and night, with only the faintest trace of light remaining. Every tree and shrub on the island in the middle of the lake wore a blanket of snow, while the winding row of streetlights cast soft halos through the quiet landscape. It suddenly struck Ji Mingshu that this was the first time she had ever seen Mingshui Manor under snow.
Back home, Cen Sen carried the supermarket bag into the kitchen and set it on the island.
Ji Mingshu glanced at the wine stain on her clothes, called out to him, and hurried upstairs to shower.
Before stepping into the bathroom, she stood in front of her wardrobe for a full five minutes, agonizing over what pajamas to wear.
She held one set after another against herself, but nothing felt right. The pale yellow looked too childish. The burgundy was too seductive. A full-length pajama set that covered everything seemed overly conservative, while the lace nightdress felt almost embarrassingly eager, like she was just handing herself over on a platter without a shred of restraint.
After a moment's thought, she snapped photos of several outfits and sent them to the group chat, asking Jiang Chun and Gu Kaiyang for advice.
Gu Kaiyang was still pretending to be dead, but Jiang Chun replied almost immediately.
Jiang Chun: [The green one looks nice. But why are you asking? Are you throwing a pajama party? When? I want to come too!]
Ji Mingshu ignored the second half of the message entirely: [What green one?]
Jiang Chun: [Isn't the second one green?]
Ji Mingshu: [...That’s clearly misty blue. Are you colorblind?"
Ji Mingshu: [Forget it. I must've lost my mind asking for your opinion.]
Jiang Chun: [Weak, pitiful, and helpless.jpg]
Somehow, the conversation dissolved into their usual daily meme war. Somewhere in the middle of the barrage of stickers, Jiang Chun finally noticed something odd. The background in Ji Mingshu's photos looked far too luxurious. It definitely wasn't Gu Kaiyang's tiny pigeon-hole apartment anymore!
She bombarded Ji Mingshu with question after question, but Ji Mingshu danced around every one of them, refusing to give a straight answer.
Gu Kaiyang had been quietly lurking the whole time. At last, she couldn't resist chiming in.
Gu Kaiyang: "Does it really matter what you wear? It's all coming off anyway."
The group chat plunged into stunned silence.
Thirty seconds later, Jiang Chun flooded the screen.
Jiang Chun: [Waaaah! I'm just an innocent little goose!]
Jiang Chun: [What did I ever do to deserve having my pure little heart corrupted by you two?!]
Jiang Chun: [I have reason to suspect two are being obscene, and I have evidence!]
...
Neither of them paid her any attention.
Having revealed the truth with a single sentence, Gu Kaiyang switched her phone to silent mode and muted the group chat.
Ji Mingshu, meanwhile, threw her phone aside at lightning speed and cupped her burning cheeks, desperately trying to cool them down.
It was so strange. The moment Gu Kaiyang said that, the little deer in her heart seemed to have gone completely blind, crashing wildly in every possible direction. She was too embarrassed to keep choosing pajamas, so she grabbed the first one she saw and fled into the bathroom.
Actually... Gu Kaiyang wasn't entirely wrong...
No! What am I thinking?
She smacked both cheeks hard.
It’s all Gu Kaiyang’s fault! Devious! Vulgar!
Ji Mingshu: [Gu Kaiyang, you're dead!]
An hour later, the bathroom was thick with warm steam. After finishing her shower, Ji Mingshu sat in the cushioned chair beside the bathtub, carefully smoothing body lotion over her skin. It carried a delicate camellia fragrance. She rubbed matching hair oil into her damp hair as well, and once it was blow-dried, her long, softly curled black hair fell in loose waves, full, silky, and effortlessly beautiful.
Once she had finished getting ready, she turned slowly in front of the full-length mirror, nodded in satisfaction, and rewarded herself with an approving look. Finally, she even remembered to swipe on a layer of fruit-scented lip balm.
By the time she came downstairs, Cen Sen was putting the finishing touches on dinner.
The braised pork ribs gleamed with a rich caramel glaze. The pearl meatballs looked plump and delicate. The blanched lettuce was bright green and glistening. The aroma drifting through the room was enough to make anyone hungry.
Hands behind her back, she wandered around the dining table before taking tiny steps over to the kitchen island, peeking around curiously.
"Any more dishes?"
Still wiping down the knife, Cen Sen replied, "Just a tomato and egg soup. It’s done. We can eat now.”
“Let me help you carry it out.”
Ji Mingshu volunteered eagerly. After spending so much time living with Gu Kaiyang, she'd at least learned to help out a little. At the very least, simply sitting around waiting to be served made her feel slightly guilty.
Sliding the knife neatly back into its holder, Cen Sen answered in his usual calm voice. "No need. I'll do it."
"Oh."
Ji Mingshu nodded obediently, then obediently trailed after him like a tiny tail all the way to the dining table.
Ji Mingshu had never been good at sitting still. She liked lively meals filled with conversation. Unfortunately, Cen Sen had impeccable table manners and disliked talking while eating. The two of them sat at adjacent sides of the table in near silence, even their chewing barely making a sound.
But you could never guess what was running through a girl's head just because she looked quiet on the outside. Ji Mingshu, for instance, sat there nibbling elegantly on a pork rib while secretly letting her imagination wander toward what might happen after dinner.
Lost in those thoughts, her foot absentmindedly swayed beneath the table, brushing against the inside of Cen Sen's calf.
She froze and looked up at him over the tip of her chopsticks.
Cen Sen met her gaze, his expression perfectly composed. After a long pause, he simply said, "Eat first."
...?
Ji Mingshu had been holding herself together remarkably well until that moment. The instant he spoke, heat rushed up her neck and into her cheeks. What exactly did he mean by that? What was that supposed to imply? Did she really look that desperate?
She opened her mouth, intending to explain herself, but had no idea where to begin. Besides, when you were secretly guilty of entertaining inappropriate thoughts, it was impossible to sound convincing. Mortified and indignant, she buried her face over her bowl and hurriedly shoveled down the rest of her rice.
Really, when it came down to it, this was all Cen Sen's fault.
He'd been dropping such obvious hints in the car, giving her every reason to let her imagination run wild. Yet the moment they got home, he transformed into the picture of restraint, practically a saint immune to temptation. After dinner, he calmly cleaned up the dishes. Then, after washing the dishes, he actually sat down to attend a video conference.
Ji Mingshu curled up on the sofa in the home theater and waited... and waited... until it felt as though her heart had grown old. All those romantic expectations slowly faded away with the passing time and Cen Sen's complete lack of reaction. In their place, irritation steadily took root.
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. Finally, she sprang off the sofa and ran barefoot straight to the study.
Inside, Cen Sen was wearing a Bluetooth headset, wrapping up the final summary of his meeting. The door suddenly swung open. He glanced up just in time to hear Ji Mingshu announce furiously, "I'm going to bed!"
Then she spun around and stomped away.
The corner of Cen Sen's lips curved almost imperceptibly he lowered his eyes again and continued addressing the meeting. His voice, however, picked up slightly.
"The return on investment in this sector is too low. Downsizing is only a matter of time..."
Everyone attending the meeting simultaneously experienced the same bewildering thought.
...Huh? Did we just hear a woman's voice? That couldn't be right. Why would there suddenly be a woman's voice coming from President Cen's side?
Before anyone had time to dwell on it, Cen Sen was already concluding. "That's all for today. Thank you, everyone."
The screen immediately went black.
Removing his headset, Cen Sen stood and casually rolled his neck.
When he reached the bedroom door, he discovered that Ji Mingshu, true to her vindictive nature, had locked it from the inside. Whatever crossed his mind made the faint smile tug at his lips once more.
Back in the bedroom, Ji Mingshu hugged a pillow and sat cross-legged on the bed, listening intently for movement outside the door. Three minutes later, she finally heard the faintest sound. He hadn't taken too long, at least.
She pricked up her ears and kept listening.
Ten seconds passed.
Twenty.
Thirty...
She began wondering whether she'd imagined it.
That made no sense.
Why had everything gone quiet again?
Unable to resist, she finally moved the chair she'd wedged against the door aside and carefully cracked the door open.
The gap grew wider and wider until she was sticking her whole head outside.
The hallway was completely empty.
Aaaargh! Cen Sen, you useless Dog Man! Either she'd imagined the sound, or he'd tried the door once, found it locked, and simply given up. Either way, Cen-shi Sensen deserved to die!
She was so furious. They'd both eaten the same pork ribs at dinner, so why was she the only one still thinking about them? She slammed the bedroom door shut with a loud bang, angrily ranting to herself: If you don't care about these little pork ribs so much, then don't ever expect to eat them again!
The instant she turned around after slamming the door, however, she walked straight into a cool, familiar embrace.
Her mind went completely blank. Her heart nearly stopped from the fright.
When she finally recovered, she was still dazed, stumbling over her words. "Y-you... how did you even get in? You nearly scared me to death..."
Her eyes accidentally landed on the wide-open walk-in closet behind him.
Suddenly, everything clicked.
Had he expanded the closet to connect to the next room because he'd anticipated something like this happening one day?
Cen Sen never wasted words on these matters. He merely chuckled softly. Before Ji Mingshu could finish babbling, he had already backed her gently against the wall. One hand braced beside her ear while the other slipped around her waist, and with a kiss, he silenced the rest of her protests.
The bedroom lights remained brightly lit the entire time. Ji Mingshu tried over and over to reach for the switch, but not only did she fail to turn them off, she somehow managed to switch on the ones that hadn't been lit before. Eventually, Cen Sen stopped giving her any opportunity to reach them at all, effortlessly changing their positions instead.
Ji Mingshu's runaway from home had lasted quite a while, and Cen Sen had gone just as long without her. While it wasn't nearly as long as those two years in Australia, for some reason, the older he grew, the less patience he seemed to have for waiting.
Late that night, snow began falling over Mingshui Lake. The soft rustle of snowflakes mingled with the sound of running water in the bathroom until the two became almost impossible to tell apart.
Ji Mingshu sat sullenly in the bathtub with her back to Cen Sen, repeatedly urging him to go rinse his mouth. After saying it yet again, she fanned her flushed face with one hand before burying it in both palms, silently regretting that she'd never learned how to hold her breath underwater when she was little.
Leaning casually against the vanity, Cen Sen wore a hastily thrown-on white dress shirt. The collar was rumpled, and he'd even fastened the buttons incorrectly.
He lowered his gaze toward Ji Mingshu, a silent smile touching his lips. Something unreadable darkened in his eyes as his thumb slowly brushed across his lower lip. As though he were still savoring the lingering taste, his index finger traced lightly back across the other side.
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